Spring.



J. J. NEWKIRK.

y SPRING. APPLIOATIDN'I'ILED JAN. 14,1911.

1 ,064,1 61, .Patented June 10, 1913.

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'unirse sfrafrns enfrente maries.,

JOHN Il'.l NEW'KIR-K, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO.

SPRING.

To all whom, 'z't may concern.

Be it known thatI, JOHN J. Newman, a citizen of the United States,residii ig at Ghihuahua,l Republic of Mexico, have inventedV eertainnew and useful Improve' ments in Springs, of which the following is a specification. 4

My invention relates to 4vehicle springs and particularly to such springs foi-mettrai a. plurality of spring-leaves arranged in uxtaposition and held together so that each degrees of stiffness, whereby a single struc- 'ture is made to fulfil the functions of a light- SPIHg and a heavy sp1-ine'.

A further object ofl this invention 'is to prox-'ide a vehicle spring, which visstrong,

capable'of absorbing shocks, to .a high degree, and durable. Y

it further object of. this invention is to provide a leaf-spring so constructed that the spring-leaves thereofare not-liable'to displacement.

Other objects and vadvantages of this invention will be apparent during the vcourse of the following description.

In the accompanying'drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate likel parts t-'hroug'l'iout the same, Figure 1 is a side view of the spring, showing the saine applied to a beam of an automobile, Fig'. 2 is anenlarged fragmentary side view of a portion of t-he spring shown in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a side View of a slightly-modified forni of spring.

It is ordinarily the practice in constructing leaf-springs to form the same symmetrl cal, that is to say, to have the portion of the spring having the greatest cross-section dis'- lposed midway of the ends of said spring,

and to have the oppositely extending arms of such spring decreasein cross-section or taper correspondingly toward their outer ends. In counter-distinction to this practice, I construct my leaf-spring so that the portion thereof having the greatest crosssection is nearer one end of' the sp1-ing than the other..V The oppositely extending arms of my spring 'decrease in cross-section or taper Specification `of Letters Patent. Appneauon med Januaiy V11i., 1911. serial' No. 602,683.

'Patented J une 10, 19j 3.

toward their outer endsf The tapering of one of these arms isA much more pronounced than that of the other. By this 'construction the Shorter erin of'the spring, which is4 t1 .arms possessing 4dillerent degrees of' stitiness. ,My spring thus coinbines in effect, in a single,structure,l a heavy spring and a lightspring. The shocks transmitted to the of. the saine, then gradually translexuerlto the heavier or stiffer arm and thus absorbed -in the ,most advantageous 1nanner.,"l`he cycle of rebound is exactly the reverse, which results in 'a greatly diminished strain onand chine.

In the drawings wherein is illustrated a preferredembodiment of m invention, the numeral 1 designates a earn, included within the frameworknf the vehicle. 'Disposed below this beam Vis a leaf-spring 2, comprising a. spring-leaf 3, having each end thereof bent to foian an eye or loo'p 4, as shown. `Disposed above and in engagement with the spring-leaf 3, is a spring-{leaf 5, having its ends terminating adjacent the 'eyes 4. Disposed below and in engavement with the 1eaf-sprin 3, is a spring-tient 6, 'which has each en( thereof extending begagemeut therewith, as shown at 7. Disof spring-leaves 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. It 1s to be umlerstoodthat theunnnberof springleaves may bc varied in accordance withthe load for which the spring is designedto support. The spring-leavesvS, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are disposed nearer therear end 13, of .the leaf-spring than fthe forward end thereof, as shown, whereby the portion of the leaf-spring having the greatest crosssection is disposed nearer such rear end. The leaf-spring comprises oppositely ezttending arms a and b,- whichtaper toward their outer ends, as shown. The rear arm a is taperedmuch more sharply than the forward arm, which results from formino free 'rear end portions 14, 15, 16, v17 and 1g much shorter than' opposite free forward end portions 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23,respectively. rIhe rear arm a possesses a greater `degree of stitinessthan ti pered more sharply 'than the long arm, is V:auch stitter than said long arm, .vhcreby a i single: structure is provided having two spring are first received by the lighter arm 4posed below tl1e'spriugleaf 6 are a plurality reduced vibration in all parts of the ma# yondthe eye 4 and bent upwardly for cne forward rarm b.

'- shown in Figs. l and 2.

The springfleaves 3, 5, G and 8 areheld together by bands 20, which are disposed near the ends thereof, as shown.

rIhe beam' l has its .rear end'bifu'ioated to receive 4thefeye if, within which is'disposed a bolt 24, serving to pivotally connect the leafspring@1 and the beam l. The 'forward end of the leaf-spring Q is pivotally connected with linls 25, by means of a bolt 26. The links 25 are in turn pivotally connected with the beam l, as shown at '27 The portion of the leaf-spring, having the greatest cross-section' extends for the. length of the lowermost spring-leaf 23. Disposed below the leaf-spring 2 and midway lthe ends `of the spring-leaf Q3, is an axle 28, which is shown as being I-shaped in Gross-section. The axle 2S is provided at its ends-with spin@ dles (not. shown) for the reception of Wheels. The axle Q3 is rigidly. connected witha plate Q9, which in turn is connected with the leafL spring-2 by means of clamps 30. Y The upper lportions of these clamps engage a'bloclr of w'ood 31,-,as shown.

In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a slightly modified form of the invention, the same including a pair of the leaf-springs 2, pivotallyconneeted at their ends, as shown at 32.- .The construetionofeach of the leaf-springs 2 of Fig. 3, is Vexactly like the leaf-spring 2 In Fig. 3, the lower leaf-spring 2 earri'es means 33,1t0 connect the same with the axle of a vehicle. The upper leaf-spring 2 carries means 3i, to conneet the same with the body portion of the vehicle. The means 33 and 3i are arranged much nearer corresponding ends of the leafsprings 2.

In the use of my leaf-spring, the Shocks transmitted to the same are first received by the lighter arm Z) and gradually transferred lloeeiei to the heavier or stiffer arm. a, whereby such shocks are most advantageously absorbed.

I have found that my leaf-sprino saves the vehicle to which the saine is applied and is itself of very long. life.

I wish it understood that the form of my invention `herewith shown and vdescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that ertain changes in the shape,l

size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my inventionl or the scope-'of the subjoined claim.-

i'-IIa-ving thus `In Combination, a leaf-spring Compris-ing,

a plurality of superposed springfleaves which' decrease in lengthl downwardly and more prominently at corresponding -ends thereof, .whereby the leaf-spring willhave short and long arms which are res'lieetivelyy stiffv and resilient, the uppermost' springleaf being foreshortened so thatv the free.. ends o the seeond spring-leaf from the top may extend therebeyond and be bent upwardly to form eyes, the third spring-leaf from, the' tephaving its ends'bentupwardly to form curved portions for receiving the eyes to reinforce and stiifen them. r`Sleeves surrounding only the vfirst four springleave'sqfrom the top vto properly spring at the enlarged portion thereof, Us shaped bolts connecting the plates, 'and' an axle rigidly connected with the lower plate.A

described my invention, I `e'lai'm:- l

bind them together-flat i plates disposed above and below the leaf-l In testimony whereof I atiix my signature" in presence of two witnesses.v y

JOHN J,'NIlVKIl-K.l

lilitnesses: y

F. T. ANDERSON, F.' E. S'rnvnxson. 

